Irrigation Leader Washington State Edition March 2022

VOLUME 13 ISSUE 3

march 2022

WASHINGTON STATE EDITION

Supporting Ag in the Emerald Corridor: Jenna Friebel of the Skagit County Drainage and Irrigation Districts Consortium

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What is Title Transfer?

KENNEWICK IRRIGATION DISTRICT

E

ver since the modern Kennewick Irrigation District (KID) went online with deliveries beginning in 1957, most of the irrigation facilities (canals, laterals, and Amon pump station) have been owned by the federal government, specifically the United States Bureau of Reclamation. Due to the fact that constructing the system was a large and expensive endeavor for its time (almost 5 million dollars), and the need for the system was due in part to removal of local irrigated farmlands from production to make way for the federal Hanford project, federal involvement was sought by the local community and finally authorized by Congress in 1948.

This partnership with the federal government was necessary to

construct the infrastructure needed to bring irrigation water from Kiona to Hover, irrigating farms and residential neighborhoods along the way. However, as areas of Benton County, including parts of West Richland, south Richland, and Kennewick have grown over the years, development pressures have required easements to be moved or abandoned in some cases, and it is not an easy or quick process for the federal government to process these requests in a timely fashion.

The good news is that there is a solution. Title transfer is the process of transferring ownership of federally-owned irrigation facilities over to the local communities that they serve. The process, as expected, can be long

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arduous, but legislation passed by Congress and signed into law in 2019 has greatly streamlined the requirements for relatively simple transfers. KID is a beneficiary of this new legislation and has actively been working to receive ownership of the “transferred works,” or that portion of the system that KID has already operated and maintained from the beginning. This is the system of canals and laterals from the head gate of the Main Canal all the way to the system terminus at the Hover Waste-way.

The benefits of title transfer to the community are substantial. KID has the staff and capacity to process landowner requests in a timely fashion. The district has staff dedicated to environmental reviews required under state law. Title transfer will give the district flexibility needed to engage the broader community on best use of our infrastructure, including the

potential for linear parks and walking paths. Also notable is that the cost to the district for title transfer has been minimal; the district has already collected enough funds to repay our portion of the construction costs, and nothing more is owed to make the federal government whole. Funds have been spent by the district on cultural and environmental studies and related mitigation to ensure no harm to the environment or cultural resources will occur.

Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, and the Yakama Nation for their willingness to work with us to make this project a success. The district also would like to thank Reclamation for their commitment to the project. Without these partnerships, title transfer would not be possible.

A community wide event is planned for this summer to celebrate this historic event.

At long last, on December 17th, 2021, the district completed the process that took over four years.

The district would like to extend special thanks to Representative Dan Newhouse for his support of this effort, the Confederated kid.org Facebook | @KennewickIrrigationDistrict Instagram | kennewick.irrigation.district LinkedIn | linkedin.com/company/kennewick-irrigation-district

KENNEWICK IRRIGATION DISTRICT

CONTENTS MARCH 2022 Volume 13 Issue 3

8

Supporting Ag in the Emerald Corridor: Jenna Friebel of the Skagit County Drainage and Irrigation Districts Consortium

5 I rrigated Ag West of the Cascades

By Kris Polly

28 I n the Loup: The Lower Loup Natural Resources District Uses Science, Partnerships, and Stakeholder Buy-In 8 S upporting Ag in the to Conserve Nebraska’s Emerald Corridor: Jenna Precious Natural Resources Friebel of the Skagit County

By Alan J. Bartels Drainage and Irrigation 34 Chris Ford of Southern Districts Consortium Irrigation: Promoting Center Pivots in British 16 A Conversation With the Columbia Bureau of Reclamation’s New Commissioner, 38 Tom

Osborn of the Camille Calimlim Touton Bonneville Power Authority: Working With 22 C ommissioner Maria-Elena Irrigators to Increase Giner of the International Energy Efficiency Boundary and Water Commission: Sharing Water 42 D ick Schober of Piper on the U.S.-Mexico Border Sandler: A Primer on Bond Issuance for Irrigation Districts 51 JOB LISTINGS

Copyright © 2020 Water Strategies LLC. Irrigation Leader relies on the excellent contributions of a variety of natural resources professionals who provide content for the magazine. However, the views and opinions expressed by these contributors are solely those of the original contributor and do not necessarily represent or reflect the policies or positions of Irrigation Leader magazine, its editors, or Water Strategies LLC. The acceptance and use of advertisements in Irrigation Leader do not constitute a representation or warranty by Water Strategies LLC or Irrigation Leader magazine regarding the products, services, claims, or companies advertised.

4 | IRRIGATION LEADER | March 2022

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STAFF:

Kris Polly, Editor-in-Chief Joshua Dill, Managing Editor Elaine Robbins, Copyeditor Tyler Young, Writer Stephanie Biddle, Graphic Designer Eliza Moreno, Web Designer Caroline Polly, Production Assistant and Social Media Coordinator Tom Wacker, Advertising Coordinator Cassandra Leonard, Staff Assistant Eve Giordano, Media Assistant William Polly, Media Assistant Milo Schmitt, Media Assistant Amanda Schultz,Media Assistant

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COVER PHOTO: Jenna Friebel, Executive Director, Skagit County Drainage and Irrigation Districts Consortium, and Steve Elde, Board Member, Drainage and Irrigation District 15.

Photo courtesy of Jenna Friebel.

irrigationleadermagazine.com

. PHOTO COURTESY OF JENNA FRIEBEL.

Do you have a story idea for an upcoming issue? Contact our editor-in-chief, Kris Polly, at kris.polly@waterstrategies.com.

Irrigation Leader is published 10 times a year with combined issues for July/August and November/December by

Irrigated Ag West of the Cascades While this magazine often focuses on central Washington, east of the Cascades, there is also important irrigated agriculture to the west. This month, we speak with Jenna Friebel, the executive director of the Skagit County Drainage and Irrigation Districts Consortium, about how her agency helps support the 12 special purpose districts that provide dike, drainage, and irrigation improvements to growers in Skagit County.

This month, we are also pleased to bring you an interview with the 24th commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, Camille Calimlim Touton. Ms. Touton is from Nevada and is a well-known friend of the western water community.

She has many years of experience in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee, and she previously served as the deputy assistant secretary for water and science in the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Next is another interview with a top-level female water professional, Commissioner Maria‑Elena Giner of the U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), the entity responsible for applying the boundary and water treaties between the United States and Mexico. Commissioner Giner tells us about the IBWC’s maintenance of levees, reservoirs, and dams; its water accounting and allocation; and its work on sediment management and removal.

Irrigation Leader readers will know about Nebraska’s successful system of natural resources districts (NRDs). In this issue, Alan Bartels of the Lower Loup NRD writes

By Kris Polly

about the agency’s work to conserve water, build consensus on drought mitigation, and conduct crop and moisture studies, all while carrying out its duties to manage water and soil and provide recreational opportunities.

Southern Irrigation’s name belies its location—the agricultural and irrigation supply company is based in British Columbia, Canada. We speak with Chris Ford about his family’s background in irrigation on two continents and the wide variety of irrigated agriculture he helps support in British Columbia today.

Tom Osborn, an energy engineer at the Bonneville Power Authority (BPA), tells us about the agency’s efforts to improve the energy efficiency both of BPA customers, including irrigators, and of power stations and substations themselves.

Finally, we speak with Dick Schober, managing director of public finance investment banking at Piper Sandler, about what irrigation districts should know about bonds and loans.

From Washington State to Washington, DC, visionary water management professionals are helping to ensure that the future of irrigated agriculture is a bright one. I hope you find this month’s stories interesting and inspirational. IL Kris Polly is the editor-in-chief of Irrigation Leader magazine and the president of Water Strategies LLC, a government relations firm he began in February 2009 for the purpose of representing and guiding water, power, and agricultural entities in their dealings with Congress, the Bureau of Reclamation, and other federal government agencies. He may be contacted at kris.polly@waterstrategies.com.

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Supporting Ag in the Emerald Corridor: Jenna Friebel of the Skagit County Drainage and Irrigation Districts Consortium

Irrigated potatoes in Skagit County.

I

n Skagit County’s fertile farmlands, which stretch from the Pacific Coast to the Cascade Range, 12 special purpose districts provide dike, drainage, and irrigation improvements for growers in a 60,000‑acre area. They pooled their resources to form the Skagit County Drainage and Irrigation Districts Consortium to manage permitting and capital improvement projects and improve environmental quality. Irrigation Leader spoke with Executive Director Jenna Friebel about her work to support the special districts and to help farmers continue to thrive in Washington’s Emerald Corridor.

of the district commissioners. There are 12 special purpose districts in the Skagit Delta. In 2018, they pooled their resources to form the consortium and then hired me as the executive director. My technical background in hydrology is useful for our policy work and our participation in legislative task forces, and my strong background in construction and environmental compliance enables me to handle permitting for our members.

Irrigation Leader: Tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.

Jenna Friebel: The 12 special purpose districts in Skagit County are members of the consortium. They serve about 60,000 acres total of agricultural land in the county. They each have three elected district commissioners who assess land within their boundaries for the purposes of dike, drainage, and irrigation improvement. They’ve been in place since the time of statehood, so since the late 1800s, when Washington State was formed.

8 | IRRIGATION LEADER | March 2022

irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF GARY BROWN.

Jenna Friebel: I have an undergraduate degree in biology and a master’s degree in engineering with an emphasis on hydrology. I worked in the private sector as a professional hydrologist for 16 years. Later, I led major construction projects in the Skagit Delta and got to know quite a few

Irrigation Leader: Who are the members in the consortium?

Controlled drainage and subirrigation within Skagit County Drainage and Irrigation Improvement District #15.

These days, the districts work in a much more complicated regulatory environment. There are environmental compliance regulations, including a recent listing of endangered Chinook salmon; laws governing water supply and rights; and the Washington State Growth Management Act. In addition, for capital improvement projects, the districts use contractors and bidding, and there’s a lot more administrative work. For each individual district, hiring a full-time staff person would cost too much, so the consortium was formed to help with those tasks. The hope is that we will grow and become like a consulting firm to handle the business of these special purpose districts.

Irrigation Leader: Are there other staff members besides you who work directly for the consortium?

Jenna Friebel: Not yet. We’ve only been in existence for 3 years. For the first several years, we have been putting the groundwork in place—creating our policies and our work plan and building our financial reserves. Once we complete that process, we plan to grow based on input from district commissioners. We’re conservative, and this is a long-term investment and a commitment to future farmers. irrigationleadermagazine.com

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about the customers your member districts serve.

Jenna Friebel: Each special purpose district serves about 5,000 acres. They are responsible for the maintenance and operation of drainage infrastructure, tide gates, culverts, ditches, and pumps. Many of the districts are also responsible for the inspections of marine dikes and levees that provide flood protection for residents and farmland.

The districts also serve as irrigation improvement districts.

We have a wet but mild winter climate. In the wintertime, we use our drainage ditches and infrastructure to drain the landscape for crops. That includes bulbs and a lot of seed crops, brassicas, and berries. All these crops are in the ground in the wintertime, so we have to drain the fields so that they survive. In the spring, we switch gears from drainage to irrigation. We check dams and weirs and then start using the same ditch network to distribute water to the landbased agricultural users. Of the 60,000 acres that we serve, only about a third need supplemental irrigation, such as by pumping water out of a ditch through an overhead system, in any given year. Many of the crops get enough water from the natural climate and through controlled drainage and March 2022 | IRRIGATION LEADER

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An irrigation hose on a farm within the districts.

subirrigation, an efficient irrigation method that involves managing the water table using weirs to keep soil moisture high. Part of why we irrigate and manage the water table with the crop is that we have a lot of crop rotations. The seed crops have 20‑year rotational needs, and there are welldefined buffer zones around seed crops to prevent crosscontamination. Because you can only plant a given crop on the same piece of land once every 20 years, our landowners often swap the use of pieces of land, for example for potatoes and cover crops. In addition to dairy farming, we have close to 80 specialty crops, including seed crops, blueberries, raspberries, brussels sprouts, bulbs, and beets.

Irrigation Leader: If only a third of the land in your service area needs supplemental irrigation in the summer, is water shortage ever a problem for your members?

10 | IRRIGATION LEADER | March 2022

Irrigation Leader: Who is on the task force?

Jenna Friebel: It’s a state legislative task force that includes four state senators, four state representatives, two local tribes, nonprofits, real estate agents, the PUD, and the Cities of Anacortes and Sedro-Woolley. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Washington Department of Ecology, and the Washington Department of Agriculture are on the task force as well. It’s balanced because municipalities are also dealing with water supply issues. Everyone is trying to figure out the best way to use the resource.

Irrigation Leader: What regulatory compliance services do you provide to your members?

Jenna Friebel: We help them navigate the permit process.

Drainage maintenance work and capital projects are unbelievably regulated. We have two programmatic agreements with the state and federal governments to do routine maintenance. We have to get approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the National Marine Fisheries Service because our drainage network is considered navigable and we serve farmland that is important for endangered salmon. We meet annually to report on our maintenance activities and to partner on habitat improvement projects. We are currently helping interface with landowners to put in buffers and to replace culverts to ensure better fish irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF GARY BROWN.

Jenna Friebel: We do have problems with water shortages, and they are becoming more evident with climate change.

We have experienced three droughts over the last 5 years.

Our precipitation is no longer predictable. We have supplemental water supply through junior water rights, so we get curtailed every summer. We do have agreements with our public utility district (PUD) that allow us to supplement our water rights or transfer water rights between the PUD and the districts. That works, but it’s not necessarily cost effective, and as development continues, that water will become less available. We are working on a joint legislative task force to help identify water supply solutions not just for now but to deal with the effects of climate change in

the future. Guaranteeing predictable and affordable water is something that we definitely have to keep working on.

passage. Ecology has defined total maximum daily loads for temperature in some of the watercourses that we manage, so we have additional coordination work as part of our programmatic agreements. We participate in programs related to environment and water quality and habitat improvement.

For any sort of capital improvement project, such as a new pump station, I handle the federal, state, and local permitting and compliance with the Endangered Species Act. Having one point of contact for all the resource agencies is more efficient for everyone involved.

Irrigation Leader: Are you also involved in policy and legislative initiatives?

Jenna Friebel: We work with our county government and with a group that represents many irrigation districts throughout Washington in the state capital on issues that affect our members. The best example is the Lorraine Loomis Act, which would have required public and private property owners with land along designated riparian management zones to create buffers along watersides to improve habitat for migrating salmon. We made comments to state legislators about how that would harm the districts.

Our hope is that voluntary programs that encourage landowners to participate continue to be funded and promoted as opposed to regulatory programs.

We have also confronted challenges to our election system. Our elections are set up so that anyone who owns land in the district gets to vote. There was a push in the state capital to change this process to allow residents a vote. However, a lot of our landowners don’t live within the district, because the land is used primarily for farming. If our election process were changed, these landowners couldn’t vote or serve on the board to protect their farmland, which in some cases covers 500–600 acres. We do education and outreach with the legislators to help them better understand why our elections are based on land ownership.

Irrigation Leader: Are there any other recent accomplishments that you would like to point to?

PHOTO COURTESY OF JENNA FRIEBEL.

Jenna Friebel: We are still getting our feet under us, and just staying in business will be a big accomplishment. Building support is huge, and I think there are good things happening on that front. We’re working with Seattle City Light on the federal relicensing process for a local dam. The hope is that we can improve flood control and reduce flood risk. These are long-term investments.

Irrigation Leader: What is your message to your state legislature and to Congress?

Jenna Friebel: Funding is one of our biggest challenges going into the future. Almost all our infrastructure is old.

Most of the marine dikes managed by our districts were irrigationleadermagazine.com

built at the turn of the 20th century. We have pump stations, tidegates, and culverts that are 50 or 60 years old. At the time they were built, it was cost effective for the farmers to pull together and put in the infrastructure, but now, the cost of replacing infrastructure is outpacing the ability of these small special purpose districts to generate funding. Skagit County Drainage and Irrigation District #5, for example, has an annual budget of $45,000, which mostly goes toward drainage, maintenance, and regulatory compliance. In the last 2 years, coast storms have done nearly $300,000 of damage to its marine dikes. Without state and federal partnerships and a way to efficiently deploy federal funding, the long-term viability of the farmland is in question. As the consortium grows, finding funding sources outside the districts is job number 1. It used to be that you could replace a tidegate for the cost of three people over the weekend with a backhoe and a piece of pipe. Now, it costs over $1 million to put them in by the time you make them fish friendly and get all the materials.

That is probably unachievable.

Irrigation Leader: Which agencies would you be seeking funding from?

Jenna Friebel: It’s hard to figure out how to get federal or state funding. There are a lot of strings attached, such as requirements that you give up farmlands for habitat to get funding for infrastructure. We have been able to work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency on hazard mitigation, but only to fix damage to marine dikes after a declared emergency. The replacement of aging drainage and irrigation infrastructure still relies primarily on local funding sources. I have been looking for 3 years for ways to fund projects related to climate resiliency or infrastructure improvements, but there are no funding streams.

Irrigation Leader: What is your vision for the future?

Jenna Friebel: We want to build good partnerships and get recognition that local sustainable farmland is important to Puget Sound and the Emerald Corridor. Investing in local special purpose districts to empower them to continue to provide drainage, flood-risk reduction, and irrigation water services is important. For generations, Skagit County has protected and invested in agriculture. Our local economy and community have really built a foundation of agriculture, and that is unique here in Puget Sound. IL

Jenna Friebel is the executive director of the Skagit County Drainage and Irrigation Districts Consortium. She can be reached at jfriebel@skagitdidc.org.

March 2022 | IRRIGATION LEADER

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A Conversation With the Bureau of Reclamation’s New Commissioner, Camille Calimlim Touton

Camille Calimlim Touton is ceremonially sworn in as commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland on December 13, 2021.

C

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your background and the career path that led you to be the 24th commissioner of Reclamation.

16 | IRRIGATION LEADER | March 2022

Commissioner Touton: I am a Nevadan. My family moved to Las Vegas, my adopted hometown, when my father was restationed to Nellis Air Force Base. As many people know, one of Las Vegas’s claims to fame is that in its backyard is Lake Mead, which was created by Hoover Dam, built by Reclamation. Reclamation is part of the ethos of southern Nevada, and it influenced what I wanted to do in my career.

I went to engineering school at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and I quickly realized that there was not only a technical side of water management, but a policy side as well. I took a 1-year break from traditional engineering to head to Washington, DC, and now that 1-year break has lasted 16 years. During that time, I’ve had tremendous opportunities to work with many of our constituencies across the West on laws that affect the management of water and that certainly affect Reclamation, whether they relate to title transfer, water recycling, or the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan. It’s been a tremendous experience that has allowed me to be of service to my community even though I’m in DC. It has been just over 1 year since I joined the BidenHarris administration, and I was sworn in by Secretary Deb Haaland on December 13, 2021. It’s been a year of tremendous challenges. In addition to developing a irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE BUREAU OF RECLAMATION.

amille Calimlim Touton was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 4, 2021, as the 24th commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation. Her experience includes serving as a professional staff member for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee and as the deputy assistant secretary for water and science in the U.S. Department of the Interior during the Obama administration. She is only the second Senate-confirmed female commissioner in Reclamation’s nearly120-year history and the first Filipino American confirmed by the Senate to lead a bureau in the Department of the Interior.

One of Commissioner Touton’s top priorities is implementing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, officially the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which invests $8.3 billion in drought and water resiliency, including funding for water efficiency and recycling programs, rural water projects, WaterSMART grants, and dam safety programs. In this interview, Commissioner Touton tells Irrigation Leader about this historic opportunity to improve infrastructure and create jobs throughout the American West.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARIO ROBERTO DURÁN ORTIZ, LICENSED UNDER CC BY-SA 4.0.

Preserving adequate water levels in Lake Mead, which is created by Hoover Dam, is a priority for the Bureau of Reclamation.

pandemic-adaptive workplace, we have had to manage the worst drought on record for many of the basins across the West. I’m exceptionally proud of how Reclamation and our team have handled these challenges. We look forward to 2022 and our implementation of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Personally, this has been a tremendous experience, partly because I’m a westerner. I’ve spent a lot of time in Washington, DC, but my work has always been about water in the West. It’s an honor to have been nominated and confirmed and to lead this organization of amazing people.

Irrigation Leader: What are your thoughts on the historical significance of your being the second female commissioner in Reclamation’s history and the first Filipino American to lead a Department of the Interior bureau?

Commissioner Touton: First, I want to recognize and thank Commissioner Brenda Burman for her historic role in being the first female commissioner and for recognizing that she wouldn’t be the last. I am grateful for her leadership and hope that I can continue inspiring other women to take on leadership roles. This opportunity is a testament to the work irrigationleadermagazine.com

that I’ve been able to do with our partners across the West.

I’m exceptionally proud of this chance to lead. I also recognize that I want to the be only the second in a rich history of diverse leadership. I want to create opportunities for others.

Irrigation Leader: What are your thoughts on the focus of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law on improving critical infrastructure and supporting communities across the 17 western states?

Commissioner Touton: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to invest in Reclamation, which serves as the water and power infrastructure for the West. The law looks at the core mission areas of aging infrastructure, dam safety, rural water, water recycling, desalination, and WaterSMART grants.

Recognizing the extraordinary engineering legacy of the last 120 years, it provides Reclamation with a tool to look at how we are to be stewards for the next 120 years. I’m excited about that opportunity, and I’m grateful to Congress for its support of Reclamation. In January 2022, we released our spend plan, which demonstrates the activities we are looking to prioritize. We want to work with our constituency March 2022 | IRRIGATION LEADER

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to move this forward and implement it in a way that is successful for everyone, especially for the people we serve out West.

People talk about traditional infrastructure—concrete, pipe, and rebar on the ground. But this is also an investment in human capital—the 5,400 people who make up Reclamation.

How do we create an environment in which the best engineers, scientists, administrative workers, technicians, mechanics, and accountants say, “Reclamation is doing pretty amazing things right now, and I want to work for it, too”? We have generational employees—people whose parents worked for us—and we want to continue to build on that legacy.

Lake Mead and Hoover Dam (lower right) are in the proverbial backyard of the city of Las Vegas, Commissioner Touton’s adopted hometown (upper left).

Irrigation Leader: How much money does the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocate to advance Reclamation’s mission?

Irrigation Leader: What are Reclamation’s priorities for implementing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and how are you determining which program areas will receive funding?

Commissioner Touton: As soon as it was signed into law, we started reaching out to the people we work with.

Within less than a month, we had our first stakeholder session. We wanted to hear from the people on the ground about what was important to them and to communicate

18 | IRRIGATION LEADER | March 2022

Irrigation Leader: How much money will be available for grants, and where can the public go for information?

Commissioner Touton: We released funding announcements on January 14, inviting sponsors of water recycling and desalination projects to request funding available under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and regular appropriations. The law includes $550 million for Title XVI projects and $250 million for desalination projects over a 5-year period.

Looking at Title XVI alone, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding allocated under this year’s spend plan ($245 million) plus the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act funding already allocated to specific projects in fiscal year 2021 ($30 million) will result in $275 million in new funding for water recycling projects. Looking at storage, which is not a grant program but is certainly important, we invested $205 million of WIIN Act funds in fiscal year 2021 and have allocated $210 million to storage projects as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s fiscal year 2022 spend plan. Reclamation has committed to spend close to half a billion dollars on storage within the first year of the Biden-Harris administration. These are significant investments that will use all our tools to partner with water districts across the West to conserve and create water. irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF DOC SEARLS, LICENSED UNDER CC BY 2.0.

Commissioner Touton: It allocates $8.3 billion directly to Reclamation to deal with issues related to new storage, safety of dams, rural water, water recycling, and desalination, among other things. We will also have a portion of the $2.5 billion that’s been allocated to Interior to complete authorized water rights settlements for tribal nations. Combined, that’s close to a $10 billion investment in Reclamation.

to them how we’re looking at this. We conducted three stakeholder sessions, which are recorded and are online on our website at www.usbr.gov/bil. The second thing we did was look internally at our capabilities. That $8.3 billion—$1.66 billion per year over 5 years—is a significant amount of money. Our focus for the fiscal year 2022 budget, which was released in January, is on programs for which we have existing processes in place. We invested in WaterSMART grants, water recycling, and rural water.

As we move forward, we’re working with our constituency and with Congress on how to implement some of the newer authorities we have—things related to aquatic ecosystems and how to use the new Aging Infrastructure Account.

Those conversations will continue in earnest through the spring as we develop our plan for fiscal year 2023.

The authorities and the funding we received allow us to deploy tools that make sense for areas that want to use them.

Not every place wants to do water recycling, but there are places that do. Not every place needs to build new storage, but there are places that do. What this means for the future of the West is resiliency. Every drop of water we conserve is a drop of water that we can deliver. We are the largest water deliverer in the nation, and we take that mission seriously. Reclamation’s infrastructure was primarily constructed in the early to mid20th century. As with all infrastructure, maintenance and investment is necessary to ensure that this infrastructure meets current and future expectations. These investments will make a significant dent in addressing the needs of aging infrastructure, and we look forward to working with our partners and with Congress to maintain and enhance our infrastructure fleet so that it’s ready for the next 50 years and beyond.

Reclamation’s stewardship of the Colorado River and the strength of your longstanding partnerships?

The distinctive “bathttub ring” pattern around the shores of Lake Mead demonstrates its reduced water levels.

Irrigation Leader: How will Reclamation meet legislative guidance to concurrently submit spend plans with the 2023–2026 president’s budget submission?

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MARIO ROBERTO DURÁN ORTIZ, LICENSED UNDER CC BY-SA 4.0, AND THE BUREAU OF RECLAMATION.

Commissioner Touton: Fiscal year 2022 is currently being considered by Congress. We received the continuing resolution in December 2021, and we’re currently awaiting congressional action. Reclamation is constantly working on our budget.

Internally, we’re already formulating fiscal year 2024, and we’ll start in earnest on 2025 later this year. It’s an opportunity for us to look at our investments as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as we formulate our annual budgets.

Irrigation Leader: What is the biggest challenge for Reclamation in implementing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law? Commissioner Touton: Our biggest challenges are also our biggest opportunities. One of the challenges posed by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is that it’s an investment not just in Reclamation but in the entire country. We are all going after the same resources, whether they are human capital or materials. We’re working internally and with the White House to better coordinate that across the federal government so that we’re hiring efficiently and acquiring the materials that we need. It’s all hands on deck across the federal government to ensure that we are not competing with but complementing each other. We’re looking to hire human resources folks so that we can bring in more engineers, financial assistance specialists, construction experts, and folks on the ground to help us implement the law. It’s an amazing opportunity for us.

Irrigation Leader: Following the Colorado River Water Users Association conference in December, what should Colorado River water users and customers know about irrigationleadermagazine.com

Commissioner Touton: This year marks the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Colorado River Compact in 1922.

The message is the same now as it was then: We are your partners, and we will partner with anybody who is willing to partner with us. Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we have the resources to back up that commitment. That has been demonstrated most recently by the $100 million federal commitment to the 500+ Plan in the Lower Colorado Region, which aims to add 500,000 acre-feet of additional water to Lake Mead in both 2022 and 2023. There’s $300 million in the infrastructure law slated just for drought contingency planning, and we look forward to working with our partners and all stakeholders, as we have for the last 100 years.

Irrigation Leader: What challenges do you see as you move into negotiating the post-2026 operational guidelines?

Commissioner Touton: Hydrologically, 2021 was an exceptionally difficult year for the Colorado River and has posed significant challenges for management. Thirty-two percent of average runoff into Lake Powell equated to less than 7.5 million acre-feet. The basin has seen reduced runoff for over 20 years now. In 2022, we started the year with lower reservoir levels in Lake Powell and Lake Mead. While we are focused on addressing the near-term operational challenges, we are also continuing to think about the long term. The current operating guidelines for Lake Powell and Lake Mead expire in 2026, and we will soon be working to develop their successors.

Confronting both the near-term and long-term challenges is something we are doing and intend to do with our partners, including states, tribes, and other interested stakeholders.

Irrigation Leader: Is there anything you’d like to add?

Commissioner Touton: With the current hydrology and the global pandemic, it’s been a year of challenges, but it’s been a tremendous honor to be a part of this organization and to represent the 5,400 employees that make up Reclamation.

I am excited for the opportunity to continue to work on behalf of the Biden-Harris administration and the American people. I’m so grateful that I get to continue the work that I’ve started with many of our stakeholders across the West and to do more good things for everybody. IL

Camille Calimlim Touton is the commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation. For more about Reclamation, visit usbr.gov.

March 2022 | IRRIGATION LEADER

| 19

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11/4/21 9:11 AM

Commissioner Maria-Elena Giner of the International Boundary and Water Commission: Sharing Water on the U.S.-Mexico Border

Amistad Dam on the Rio Grande is one of the IBWC’s largest facilities.

T

he United States and Mexico share nearly 2,000 miles of border, more than 1,200 miles of which runs along the Rio Grande. Further west, the Colorado River crosses the border and flows into the Sea of Cortez. The border, and water deliveries across and along it, are governed by numerous treaties as well as subsequent agreements, or minutes, that clarify them.

The International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), which has both U.S. and Mexican sections, is the entity charged with applying those boundary and water treaties and settling disputes that arise in their application. In this interview, we speak with U.S. Section Commissioner Maria-Elena Giner about the commission’s work, including its river maintenance and sediment removal activities, and the challenges posed by drought in the Rio Grande and Colorado River basins.

University of Texas at Austin. I’ve worked for 25 years along the U.S.-Mexico border. For 20 years, I served as general manager of the Border Environment Cooperation Commission, which was created out of the North American Free Trade Agreement and is now part of the North American Development Bank. During that time, I led the development and financing of $9 million in environmental infrastructure, benefitting more than 100 communities and 15 million residents on both sides of the border. I worked to bring many of those communities wastewater service and, in some cases, water service for the first time. I also helped bring renewable energy to the region.

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.

Commissioner Giner: The IBWC is responsible for applying the boundary and water treaties between the two countries and settling differences that arise in their application. The U.S. Section of the IBWC is headquartered in El Paso.

The Mexican section, headquartered in Ciudad Juarez, is led by my counterpart, also a woman, Commissioner

22 | IRRIGATION LEADER | March 2022

irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE IBWC.

Commissioner Giner: I’m a civil engineer. I also have an MBA from the University of Texas at El Paso, and I recently obtained my PhD in public policy from the

Irrigation Leader: Please introduce the IBWC.

Adriana Reséndez. This is the first time we’ve had two women leading this organization. The U.S. Section has offices in San Diego, California; Nogales and Yuma, Arizona; Las Cruces, New Mexico; El Paso, Fort Hancock, Presidio, Del Rio, Laredo, Falcon Heights, and Mercedes, Texas; and Washington, DC. Our duties include maintaining flood control levees, international storage reservoirs and diversion dams, two wastewater treatment plants, and the boundary monuments that demarcate the U.S.-Mexican border from El Paso to San Diego. Our projects include sanitation, rehabilitating trunklines, water accounting, and allocating water based on the 1906 and 1944 treaties.

Commissioner Giner: Our major infrastructure consists of two international dams: the Amistad and Falcon Dams, both of which are on the Rio Grande. We maintain 508 miles of levees for flood control. We also maintain five diversion dams along the Texas border and 258 boundary monuments from El Paso to San Diego. There are also two wastewater treatment plants, one in San Diego and the other in Nogales, Arizona. We have a diversion dam in Baja California called Morelos Dam, which is where the Colorado River water comes through.

Irrigation Leader: What is the commission’s role in allocating and distributing water for irrigation, and how much water does it allocate for irrigation each year?

PHOTOS COURTESY OF JOHN FOWLER, LICENSED UNDER CC BY 2.0.

Irrigation Leader: The IBWC’s territory spans from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, and you work with two countries and multiple states. How does your agency relate to the federal and state governments?

Commissioner Giner: We are a federal agency, and we are funded through the U.S. Department of State. I do a lot of work with the Department of State to settle differences and work out agreements between the United States and Mexico, because there are caveats within the treaties that can cause problems. We look at everything from cost sharing to water accounting to water conservation efforts. The minute process determines how the treaty is interpreted and how we should solve problems. When the two sections agree on a minute, the Department of State goes through an authorization process.

When it comes to the legislative branch, both the United States Senate and the House of Representatives are interested in our work, the infrastructure we maintain, and how we’re funded. They are interested because we maintain federal assets and because water accounting ensures sure that the United States is meeting the requirements of the treaty and boundary. Boundaries change all the time, so ensuring the integrity of the boundaries is important.

We also interact with state water and environmental agencies on a variety of issues, including water delivery requests, water deliveries to Mexico, and sanitation. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), for instance, is one of our major stakeholders. We interact with the states on their requests for water deliveries. In the case of the Colorado River, we interact with several states, reaching all the way up to Wyoming, to ensure that we can complete agreed deliveries to Mexico. In California and Arizona, sanitation issues are important. We’re also engaged with local communities in the border region. We hold events called citizen forums that allow us to communicate directly with our communities on a regular basis.

Irrigation Leader: What infrastructure does the IBWC own and operate? irrigationleadermagazine.com

The Rio Grande on the U.S.-Mexico border, with Mexico on the left and Texas on the right.

Commissioner Giner: The IBWC does not own the water, so we do not allocate it. Reclamation does. Our role is water accounting and ensuring that Mexico receives the water allocated to it under the relevant treaties, and we partner with the U.S. Department of the Interior to carry out those tasks. Interior manages all the infrastructure and the states’ water requests. The United States provides 1.5 million acre-feet of Colorado River water to Mexico each year. Mexico also stores water in Lake Mead—there are a lot of intricacies associated with that.

Two treaties apply to the Rio Grande. The 1906 treaty, which requires delivery of water, is managed by Interior as well.

That water is delivered to Mexico depending on snowpack and water availability. Elephant Butte Irrigation District, El Paso Irrigation District Number 1, and Mexico determine the allocation of water that will be coming down from the snowpack in the Rockies. Further down the Rio Grande, the 1944 water treaty allocates 1.75 million acre-feet of water from six Mexican tributaries to be delivered over a 5-year period to Texas. How we allocate that water is also dependent on rainfall.

There are other tributaries to consider as well: In addition to the six from Mexico, there are six from the United States.

Certain countries own certain amounts of water. In the case of the Rio Grande, Texas owns the water and we manage it.

We interact with the TCEQ, which is the entity that requests water deliveries on a daily basis. Water isn’t always available; it depends on the time of year.

March 2022 | IRRIGATION LEADER

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Irrigation Leader: What sorts of river maintenance is the IBWC in charge of?

Irrigation Leader: What is your message to the irrigated agriculture community?

Commissioner Giner: We have international dams and diversion dams, and there are always things that need to be done to maintain those structures. One large capital investment is to shore up Amistad Dam, which is a critical item right now in terms of safety. We also do a lot of mowing on the floodplains and the levees. We make sure they’re maintained appropriately to ensure proper flood protection.

Commissioner Giner: We are working toward creative solutions on how and when we use water. We’re looking for opportunities to identify projects that will conserve water or create new water sources. We are partnering with foundations, nongovernmental organizations, states, and the federal government to identify funding for these projects so we can create a more sustainable watershed in the long term.

Irrigation Leader: What issues does sediment buildup pose for the flow of water in the Rio Grande?

Commissioner Giner: When sediment builds up, it forms islands that slow the river’s flow. It also causes land to be lost to erosion and boundaries to move as the river changes course. We have a lot of sediment issues from Las Cruces, New Mexico, all the way down to Fort Hancock, Texas, but we’ve had limited funding to mitigate them. We are dredging about 100,000 cubic yards of sediment, but right now about 17.5 million cubic yards of sediment has built up, which would cost $300 million to remove. We’re not receiving that kind of funding, so we’re doing the best we can with the funding that we do receive.

Irrigation Leader: What issues do the droughts in the Rio Grande and Colorado basins pose for the operations and activities of the IBWC?

24 | IRRIGATION LEADER | March 2022

Commissioner Giner: Policymaking from congressional leaders is important for the U.S.-Mexico border region.

That policymaking includes the funding that is needed for water conservation and for creating new water sources. It’s important for Congress to understand that we are doing the best we can with the resources we have, but it’s not enough. Our agency serves some of the most disadvantaged communities in the country. If you were to take all the border counties, excluding San Diego, and call them a 51st state, it would rank lowest in per capita income. It would also rank second in population under the age of 18, which is a more vulnerable population, and would also have some of the highest demographics of minorities. Serving these disadvantaged communities is important.

Irrigation Leader: What is your vision for the future?

Commissioner Giner: My vision for the future consists of what I call my three Ps: personnel, projects, and policy.

I want to ensure that we have adequate staffing and that our people have the necessary tools to serve our communities and to continue operating the federal assets we’ve been entrusted with. Right now, we are significantly understaffed, and we’re working to communicate that to our federal stakeholders. As for projects, I have some significant ones I’m focusing on related to sanitation, water quality, flood protection, and water deliveries. Third, I’m working on some important policy issues specifically related to asset management. The vision I have is to create an asset management plan to give us a clearer picture of our construction needs, our operations and maintenance needs, and our staffing needs. My vision for this agency is implementing those three Ps. IL

Maria-Elena Giner is the commissioner of the U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission. For more on the IBWC, visit ibwc.gov.

irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE IBWC.

Commissioner Giner: Two factors are causing drought: reduced snowpack and higher temperatures. The reduction in snowpack means less water from runoff. A learning experience for me was discovering how temperature affects drought. For example, in the Colorado River, there was 90 percent of average snowpack last year, but we only got 30 percent of average runoff. That was because of the dryness of the soils and the increased temperatures. Warmer temperatures earlier in the year caused more evapotranspiration. This has serious effects on drought conditions. We don’t manage Colorado River water deliveries north of the border, so what we can do to offset these issues is implement water conservation projects in the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California to create water savings. That way, less water needs to be taken from Lake Mead. Those efforts have added about 2–3 feet of elevation at Lake Mead.

That is valuable for all the lower basin states. We are working to identify additional conservation measures. Both countries believe that if the three lower Colorado basin states—Arizona, California, and Nevada—are receiving reduced deliveries, Mexico should also receive reduced deliveries.

In the case of the Rio Grande, we are also working with Mexico to do hydraulic modeling for the Sierra Madre and the state of Chihuahua. A significant amount of water comes from Mexico into the Rio Grande, and drought conditions and snowpack in the Sierra Madre affects these scenarios.

Irrigation Leader: Do you also have a message for Congress?

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In the Loup: The Lower Loup Natural Resources District Uses Science, Partnerships, and Stakeholder Buy-In to Conserve Nebraska’s Precious Natural Resources

By Alan J. Bartels

Water Programs Specialist Jason Moudry and Projects Technician Brian Kolar checking a monitoring well in Columbus, Nebraska. The LLNRD is in the process of installing an innovative structure to increase groundwater levels in a specific region of Columbus’s east side.

I

n the heart of Nebraska, the Lower Loup Natural Resources District (LLNRD) stretches from the eastern Sandhills north and east past Burwell, Albion, and Petersburg, south to Buffalo County, and east to the Columbus area. The district, headquartered in Ord, stretches 156 miles east to west and 96 miles north to south, making it the largest of Nebraska’s natural resources districts (NRDs). At 7,923 square miles, it occupies more than 10 percent of the land in Nebraska. Along with the LLNRD’s large size come big challenges. The LLNRD’s management sees those as immense opportunities for implementing innovative solutions.

Navigating Uncharted Waters

28 | IRRIGATION LEADER | March 2022

that scenario, local stakeholders, including farmers, residents and some of Columbus’s largest employers, would all lose something. “A better option was to come up with a project to basically just move water around while allowing water users to keep doing what they are doing,” says LLNRD General Manager Russell Callan.

As its experts worked on a multiyear study, the LLNRD worked as the lead organization in a unique partnership that also includes the City of Columbus, Platte County, the Christopher’s Cove Homeowners’ Association, and agricultural processor Archer Daniels Midland. Grants from the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources’ Nebraska Water Sustainability Fund and the Bureau of Reclamation’s drought resiliency grant program were secured, and a plan came together.

After passing through the Loup Power District’s hydroelectric dam upstream of Columbus, water from the tailrace canal can be intercepted before returning to the Loup River when needed. A pipeline from the tailrace canal relays water to the previously abandoned Lost Creek Channel south of 8th Street. That creek dried up after a successful flood control project routed its flows around the city. Basements stayed dry, but groundwater levels dropped.

The new pipeline will recharge the groundwater in that area and fill an adjacent shallow well. When needed, water irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE LLNRD.

While much of the district is blessed with Ogallala Aquifer– fed streams and rising static water levels, a water shortage issue rose to the surface recently toward the eastern end of the district. LLNRD water technicians had noticed that water levels near Columbus had fallen from 2010 to 2014.

Irrigation supplies and commercial and municipal wells were being affected. Residents of a sandpit lake development weren’t happy when their aquatic backyard playground grew shallower while their sandy beaches expanded.

The NRD could have used its regulatory authority to require the area’s water users to reduce their water usage. In

The development of recreational and park facilities is one component of the mission of Nebraska’s NRDs. Davis Creek Recreation Area, near North Loup, is managed by the LLNRD. The area is popular with anglers and campers.

will be pumped to Christopher’s Cove. The project is not dependent on the availability of excess precipitation and can be shut down if heavy precipitation is forecasted.

The innovative project is scheduled to go online in 2022.

It exemplifies how partners with varying interests can come together, with NRDs in the lead, to reach common goals while protecting resources. No wonder Nebraska’s unique system of locally controlled, tax-funded, watershed-based conservation is admired throughout the nation. “As I interact with other states and some foreign representatives, it becomes obvious that Nebraska’s NRD system and the ability of our NRD boards to make hard decisions are admired,” says Don Masten of Downey Drilling Inc. in Lexington. “The result of this proactive leadership is a stabilized static water level in much of the state. We’ve created a future for our children and grandchildren as a reward for making the hard decisions and changing the very framework of our ag irrigation culture.”

voluntary integrated management plan; members of irrigation district boards and farmer-led groups, such as the Nebraska Corn Board; and active municipal managers. The wide array of backgrounds ensures that diverse opinions were included for the development of how the NRD should respond to times of severe drought.”

These “drought tournaments” have allowed agricultural producers from across the district to form relationships with one another, with LLNRD management, and with personnel from other agencies. They’ve also inspired the stakeholders to think long and hard about the drastic changes they might have to make if ever faced with a prolonged, devastating drought and how their actions could affect neighbors. If ever needed, the stakeholders will be convened to provide input to the LLNRD board of directors in advance of the implementation of drought mitigation measures. “It’s not a question of if, but when the next drought will occur. If you wait for the next drought, it’s too late to properly respond,” says Phil Luebbert of JEO Consulting Group. “The LLNRD’s effort in planning ahead and preparing for future drought periods is crucial to reduce the negative impacts of water scarcity across the region.”

Randy Kauk, a farmer and cattleman from Farwell and a member of the LLNRD board of directors, echoes that sentiment: “I’ve got cattails growing in pastures where there were never cattails before. But I know the high water levels won’t last forever. There may be a time when we are hurting for water. Makes good sense to plan for it now.”

Working Locally, Together Technican Dan Ray, who recently retired after 45 years with the LLNRD, teaches new tech Jordyn Duffek the ins and outs of sampling irrigation wells in Greeley County.

Not a Question of If, but When

The LLNRD’s leadership, including its 21‑member board of directors, knows there could come a time when water shortages are the norm. Many of those directors are farmers who know that good times never last forever. Rather than waiting for drought to arrive, the LLNRD has initiated development of a district-wide drought management plan that involves stakeholders from the district. In partnership with JEO Consulting Group, the stakeholders are guided through a series of virtual droughts, increasing from mild to extreme and even exceptional. Real data from past droughts, such as the 2012 drought, are used to create the scenarios. The stakeholders discuss how the presented conditions and possible mitigation actions would influence their operations. “We have managed to assemble a group of very progressive and involved professionals, all with vested interests in water resources,” says Tylr Naprstek, assistant general manager of the LLNRD. “Most have served in some capacity on a similar group to this one. Some examples include those that were involved with development of our irrigationleadermagazine.com

Locally elected directors represent each NRD in Nebraska.

The NRDs’ 12 areas of responsibility include flood control, groundwater quality and quantity, and the prevention of soil erosion and irrigation runoff. Since the establishment of Nebraska’s NRDs in 1972, the LLNRD has planted more than 12 million trees in cooperation with landowners, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Nebraska Forest Service.

Other partnerships involve multiple NRDs. The Central Platte NRD, headquartered in Grand Island, and the LLNRD are working together on a 3‑year study to determine the effect of cover crops on soil moisture and recharge. After receiving a water sustainability grant from the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources, the two NRDs found producers willing to take part in the study. The farmers were already implementing corn-soybean rotations and using cover crops in southern Buffalo County, where research has shown historical declines in the water table.

Cover crops are known to improve soil health while also reducing erosion. What is not entirely understood yet is how the cover crops—planted after the producer’s main crop has been harvested—affect groundwater recharge.

After the fall harvest, half of each study field is planted with a cover crop, such as cereal rye. The rest of the field is left fallow. Soil samples collected by NRD staffers are analyzed for March 2022 | IRRIGATION LEADER

| 29

moisture content, nitrate levels, and texture. Moisture sensors buried 18, 72, and 84 inches deep—well out of the way of farm implements—record data continuously while transmitting via a cellular network to a remote location. Experts will crunch the numbers at the end of the study period, with the NRDs ultimately using the information to advise producers.

The study is a good example of Nebraska’s NRDs working together for the benefit of our entire agricultural state. “The Central Platte NRD and LLNRD are both proactive about protecting our natural resources for future generations,” says Lyndon Vogt, the general manager of the Central Platte NRD. “When opportunities arise for the two of us to share the costs and outcomes of studies that help our boards make informed decisions, it is in everyone’s best interest to take advantage of them, especially when the decision could have lasting consequences on a finite resource.”

Nebraska’s Great Outdoors

30 | IRRIGATION LEADER | March 2022

Conservation for the Next Generation

Each Nebraska NRD has an information and education (I&E) department. These educators inform the public about policies; hold workshops, meetings, and other events; and conduct programs such as tree planting. While developing and conducting educational programs for adults is rewarding, many I&E staff members most look forward to working with children. Whether knee deep in a wetland teaching elementary students why wildlife needs clean water just like people do, conducting a winter bird count with families, or helping with land-judging and range-judging competitions, these professionals know that ecosystems benefit when youngsters learn about conservation early in life.

Nebraska’s NRDs are sponsors of Envirothon, the largest environmental education competition in North America. The intent of the event is to develop future conservation leaders.

Participants learn about soil and land use, aquatic ecology, wildlife, environmental issues, and forestry. Nebraska’s teams routinely score near the top of national rankings.

ACE Camp, which stands for Adventure Camp about the Environment, is a 4-day outdoor experience that teaches students in sixth through eighth grade about aquatics, forestry, range, grassland, wildlife, soil, and land—and how to protect them. Exciting hands-on activities include ziplining, river float trips, games, and campfires. The LLNRD is one of many NRDs that offers scholarships for the event, which is held each June at the Nebraska State 4‑H Camp near Halsey. LLNRD staff lightheartedly argue among themselves over who gets to help with the camp.

“Conservation education helps students of all ages understand and appreciate our natural resources,” says Larry Schultz, a 20‑year veteran of the LLNRD’s I&E department. (He is famous statewide for his water rocket activity, in which children launch recycled plastic bottles higher than the treetops.) “One of our slogans is, ‘Conservation for the next generation.’ We hope that by teaching children the importance of our natural resources, that they grow into adults who appreciate and understand how to protect them.” IL Alan J. Bartels is an information specialist at the Lower Loup Natural Resources District. For more about the LLNRD, visit llnrd.org.

irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE LLNRD.

Purposes and authorities assigned to Nebraska’s NRDs by law include developing and managing fish and wildlife habitat as well as parks and recreational facilities. NRDs often use the construction of flood control structures, soil and sediment control activities, or wildlife habitat enhancement projects as opportunities to expand recreational opportunities for the public.

Located near the community of North Loup, the 1,140‑acre Davis Creek Reservoir is the highlight of a recreation area in Greeley and Valley Counties managed by the LLNRD and known for its dark skies, which facilitate stargazing, and its opportunities for hunting and fishing.

Lunkers lurking here include walleye, yellow perch, wipers, and white bass. Successful anglers can prepare their catch at an onsite fish-cleaning station. The LLNRD built a new campground here in 2019, complete with security lighting, WiFi, and a coin-operated shower house. Nearby trails are open to horseback riding, hiking, and cross-country skiing. Picnic shelters, restrooms, and drinking water also are available. There are 42 new RV campsites with electrical service and 25 primitive campsites, including what may be the only elevated tent camping site in Nebraska that is fully accessible, compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and built specifically for campers who use wheelchairs.

The LLNRD also owns and maintains Pibel Lake Recreation Area in Wheeler County. A diversion dam built on Clear Creek formed Pibel Lake in the mid-1890s. Named for early postmaster William Pibel, the lake became a popular recreation spot with a hotel and later a lodge. There’s much less development here today. Pibel Bible Camp, founded in 1939, still overlooks the lake. The LLNRD completed a major renovation of the 72‑acre recreation area in 2016 after ownership was transferred to the LLNRD from the State of Nebraska. Families enjoy a new playground on the south side of the 24‑acre lake and a recently installed footbridge and trail at the north end. Anglers hook largemouth bass, bluegill, and channel catfish. Pibel Lake Recreation Area offers camping,

picnic shelters, restrooms, potable water, two handicappedaccessible fishing piers, and a boat dock.

Adjacent to the district’s headquarters in Ord, the 11‑acre LLNRD Arboretum is home to a variety of native and nonnative trees and shrubs. The east side of the arboretum features a wetland viewing area. Picnic tables are positioned to the north. A paved trail loop completed by the LLNRD in 2013 connects to the community of Ord’s hike/bike trail.

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Chris Ford of Southern Irrigation: Promoting Center Pivots in British Columbia

The second cut of alfalfa at Frolek Cattle Ranch near Kamloops, British Columbia.

Dick Ford researching irrigation systems in the Columbia basin in 1974, the year he founded Highlands Irrigation.

Irrigation Leader: Please describe your family background and the development of Highlands Irrigation.

34 | IRRIGATION LEADER | March 2022

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about the present-day operation at Highlands Irrigation and how it is related to Southern Irrigation. irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MIKE ANFIELD AND CHRIS FORD.

W

hen Southern Irrigation bought Highlands Irrigation in 2020, two established family businesses joined forces to provide agricultural solutions to growers and cattle ranchers across British Columbia and beyond. In this interview, Chris Ford tells us about his family background, which spans from New Zealand to British Columbia, and explains how Southern Irrigation supports a variety of irrigated crops in a climatically varied region.

Chris Ford: My dad, Dick Ford, is from Rotorua, New Zealand. In 1929, my granddad—his father—had acquired a government lease on vacant land and started grazing dairy heifers and sheep. My granddad spent his whole career developing Highlands Station. Today, Highlands Station is still in my family and is the reason why, many years later, my mom and dad named their Canadian irrigation business Highlands Irrigation. During the era of my dad’s childhood, my granddad farmed 5,000 sheep and 500 cows. My granddad was one of the pioneers of red deer farming in New Zealand. My dad tells great stories of waking up for an early morning pre-chore hunt to the sound of red deer stags roaring on the farm.

My mom, Donna Ford, is from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She met my dad in England, where they were both traveling during their early 20s. My parents were married in Vancouver in 1967. While waiting to marry my mom, my dad found work at an irrigation company, supplying wheel lines from Vancouver up to ranches and farms in the interior of British Columbia. Once married, they moved to New Zealand to work on the family farm. After 2 years, they wanted to move back to British Columbia, both to be near my Canadian family and because my dad wanted to pursue work in the irrigation industry there, which had caught his interest a couple of years earlier.

In 1969, my dad found employment as an irrigation salesman in Williams Lake, British Columbia. Today, more than 50 years later, they’re still there! When the company my dad worked for went into receivership in 1974, he and my mom created their own company, Highlands Irrigation.

In their first year in business, my dad traveled through the Columbia basin in Washington State. The extent of pivot irrigation got his attention, and by 1978, he was selling and installing pivots in the interior of British Columbia.

My dad drove hundreds of miles to remote cattle ranches to help owners come up with suitable irrigation development solutions. Beef cattle operations in nearly every part of British Columbia need irrigation to grow forage crops. The irrigation land developed in the 1950s was using wheel-line and handline systems. Where land was being flood irrigated or was still undeveloped and labor was in short supply, it was obvious for dad that pivots were the most efficient solution. Highlands Irrigation’s focus on finding the right solution for the grower, along with being a dealer of Lindsay Zimmatic pivots for 40 years, has made us a leader in British Columbia’s irrigation industry.

Chris Ford: In the mid‑1980s, ginseng was a one-time crop rotation that was grown on many ranches in the interior of British Columbia. Irrigating ginseng required a reliable source of a huge volume of PVC fittings. My dad met Bert Oostenbrink, the founder of Southern Irrigation, in Chilliwack, British Columbia, and a deal was struck that Southern Irrigation would supply all PVC fittings to Highlands Irrigation. Southern Irrigation is a leader in drip irrigation throughout British Columbia. Highlands Irrigation led the industry in pivot irrigation in British Columbia. Both companies were looking for the best irrigation solutions well before their time. Southern Irrigation and Highlands have enjoyed a nearly 40‑year business relationship and friendship in British Columbia’s irrigation industry. In December 2020, Southern Irrigation bought Highlands Irrigation and brought our pivot irrigation expertise into its vast portfolio of irrigation solutions. Our entire team at Highlands now works with Southern Irrigation.

Southern Irrigation now has seven stores across Western Canada, and we’re growing at a rapid rate. As a business, we are trying to help growers across Canada find the best possible irrigation solutions. My role with Southern Irrigation is to continue to be a pivot expert in our four stores in British Columbia.

Irrigation Leader: What types of agricultural customers do you serve?

Chris Ford: British Columbia has a diverse agricultural community. I live in an area surrounded by British Columbia’s cattle industry. My expertise is mainly in irrigating forage crops. In recent years, we have seen vegetable farmers from southern British Columbia move up into the interior to grow potatoes, onions, and even carrots.

Although there are many ways to irrigate these crops, center pivots are the best solution. The Okanagan Valley stretches from the Washington border north toward my home in Kamloops, British Columbia. It has a long history of fruit orchards and now produces some of the finest wines in the world. Southern Irrigation is a leader in drip irrigation in this so-called Napa Valley of Canada, which has wineries that rival even the biggest ones in California. Farmers in the Fraser Valley, near Vancouver, have a strong horticulture and dairy base. The Fraser Valley gets a large amount of precipitation year round, but we have seen the industry change from little or no irrigation to growers understanding that efficient irrigation solutions ensure crop yields regardless of the annual weather patterns. We have had great success with Lindsay Zimmatic lateral irrigation systems.

In an area with some of the most expensive farmland in the world, it is important to use everything in our tool belts to irrigate efficiently and effectively.

Chris Ford: Lindsay Zimmatic FieldNet and FieldNet Advisor have revolutionized how we manage our centerpivot irrigation systems. Using this technology, our growers spend less time and therefore less money in the field and have greater control. Lindsay Precision VRI is the leader in VRI in the center-pivot world.

Every sprinkler on the pivot is controlled through radio nodes. You can map your whole field so that every sprinkler puts out different amounts of water. Funnily enough, Lindsay Precision VRI was developed in New Zealand, so my dad would argue that once again, New Zealand farmers are doing it better than anyone!

In British Columbia, every field is a different shape and has varying elevations. The innovations that Lindsay Zimmatic has developed allow our growers complete confidence that we are putting the right amount of water in the right place. Nearly every pump system is built with a variable-frequency drive. I look at every farm and ranch that needs a design or upgrade and challenge myself to irrigate it in the best possible way.

The efficiencies we’re seeing through technology are awesome, and our growers are seeing the great benefits of increased water efficiency and greater yields.

Irrigation Leader: Tell us more about how irrigation in British Columbia differs from irrigation in the United States.

Chris Ford: In theory, it is not different at all. We have land we want to grow food on and a water source that we need to manage carefully. People think we’ve got limitless water up here, but that’s not true. Our growers’ water licenses are often the main assets of their farms or ranches. There is a huge respect for every drop of water.

We use gravity-fed water systems from the mountains, we pump out of rivers and lakes, and we use wells. We have farms as small as an acre or two and ranches that are over a million acres. We grow crops near the ocean, in our interior desert, and in high-elevation alpine climates. We have incredible wildlife and have to pay close attention to the water needs of the salmon of the Pacific Northwest.

The part of my job that I enjoy the most is going to a property to help a grower come up with a better irrigation solution. Every customer’s situation is unique. IL

Chris Ford works in project design and sales at Southern Irrigation.

For more on Southern Irrigation, visit southernirrigation.com.

Irrigation Leader: How are technological innovations such as variable-rate irrigation (VRI) changing your work? irrigationleadermagazine.com

March 2022 | IRRIGATION LEADER

| 35

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Tom Osborn of the Bonneville Power Authority: Working With Irrigators to Increase Energy Efficiency

In this photo, taken at McNary Dam, the difference between the new 300-watt LEDs in the foreground and the old 1,000-watt high-intensity discharge fixtures in the background is visible. This change represents a huge energy and labor savings, and the lighting is much improved.

I

n the 40 years since Congress directed the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) to meet growing energy needs through renewables and efficiency, the agency has saved 2,350 average megawatts (MW) through energy efficiency programs. BPA is a federal power marking agency that markets and transmits power from the Pacific Northwest federal dams and one nuclear power plant to more than 130 public utilities, including co-ops, rural electric associations, municipalities, and public utility districts.

BPA helps irrigation districts and other irrigators conduct energy audits and take advantage of incentive programs. Irrigation Leader spoke with BPA energy engineer Tom Osborn about how, when it comes to energy cost savings, less is indeed more.

the Pacific Northwest. We market our power to publicly owned utilities. Our power also comes from our two wind farms; one 1,150 MW nuclear power plant; and the Federal Columbia River Power System, which is made up of 31 hydroelectric projects in the Columbia River basin.

The utilities to which we market wholesale electrical power include cooperatives, rural electric associations, municipalities, and public utility districts. We have about 130 customers of those types.

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.

Tom Osborn: Over 90 percent. The precise figure depends on whether the nuclear power plant is scheduled for an outage in a given year and how much water we have available in snowpack.

38 | IRRIGATION LEADER | March 2022

Irrigation Leader: You work primarily with irrigation districts and other irrigators. Where does their power come from?

Tom Osborn: The irrigation districts have access to Reclamation reserve power. The irrigators purchase their power from local utilities. irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF BPA.

Tom Osborn: I’ve been with BPA for over 30 years. I am currently in our energy efficiency group, working with irrigation-related energy efficiency projects. I work with irrigators, both large and small, and with irrigation districts, some of which irrigate over 200,000 acres. I also work with our federal partners, the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. BPA is the power marketing agency for federal hydropower resources here in

Irrigation Leader: What percentage of your power comes from hydropower generation?

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about BPA’s efficiency programs.

Tom Osborn: The BPA energy efficiency effort started in 1980, when Congress passed the Northwest Power Act. That legislation directed BPA to look at its hydropower, coal, and nuclear system portfolio. It specifically called out wind, solar, and energy efficiency. Energy efficiency gets a credit of 10 percent in our cost calculations. For instance, if we’re considering adding a new combustion turbine power plant to the generation portfolio, power from which costs 5 cents a kilowatt-hour, or energy efficiency, which costs 5½ cents a kilowatt-hour, the 10 percent benefit on the cost for the energy efficiency would make it the more affordable option. But we have to be certain of these energy savings and know when they produce the savings!

We have about $60 million per year in our budget and our revenue forecast set aside for an energy efficiency program.

We have programs for residential customers that support the installation of heat pumps, new windows, and smart thermostats. We have programs for residential housing and commercial buildings, which deal primarily with lighting; insulation; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC); and thermostats. We have a program for industrial plants that is currently run by a third party that takes a look at the entire process of producing french fries, pizza pockets, dehydrated onions, and so on and recommends more-efficient equipment or processes. We also have energy efficiency programs to address agriculture, which primarily concern irrigation. For some of the utilities we serve, 70 percent of their sales are irrigation related, so it’s really important for them to have incentive programs to help their irrigators become more energy efficient. We also budget $2.5 million for our Energy Smart Reserved Power (ESRP) Program.

The largest dam in the United States, Grand Coulee Dam, was built ostensibly for irrigation purposes. There was not much demand for the electricity at the time. Part of the motivation for the project, which was carried out by Reclamation, was to reclaim 1,000,000 acres of desert land and convert it to irrigated fertile land where crops could be grown— alfalfa, flowers, fruit trees, grapes, onions, potatoes, watermelon, wheat, and anything else that grows. When the dam was built, power was reserved for irrigation district purposes on the wholesale side. The John W. Keys III pumping plant lifts massive amounts of water out of the Columbia River to a high scabland basin at the end of which the federal government built a dam, creating Banks Lake. That created the Columbia Basin Project (CBP). We work with the irrigation districts on lining canals, replacing earthen ditches with pipelines, and building more-efficient pump stations. BPA provides an energy efficiency incentive through our $2.5 million ESRP program, which also helps reduce station service loads. Reducing losses can reduce irrigation districts’ pumping needs.

The dams are owned by Reclamation and the Army Corps, but BPA has the rights to the power output. They irrigationleadermagazine.com

generate their own power, and it flows onto the electrical grid. They use some of the electricity to safely operate the dams themselves. Recently, we’ve been going back to the dams and looking at the power substations to reduce the station service load. A particular dam might be generating 500 MW, but it might consume 2–4 MW of station service for its own operations. If we can reduce the station service load required by lighting, fans, pumps, and compressed air usage by 50 percent, then more electricity is available to the grid. The same is true of power substations: they don’t have a separate utility bringing in the electricity; it comes from the substation itself and is typically unmetered load.

About 8 years ago, BPA went into all the dam projects, updated the lighting, and updated the compressed air system with new variable-speed drive air compressors.

We’ve helped upgrade HVAC and lighting, especially LED exterior security and high-bay lighting, and we’re putting in T8 LED lights. Every 8 years, I go back and look for new opportunities. We went from T12 fluorescent lamps to T8s, and now we are moving toward direct-wire T8 LED lamps. We also looked at updating the chillers that are used to cool the oil for the big generators, but we didn’t provide any incentives for that, as they were already fairly efficient.

Irrigation Leader: Would you tell us about some of your irrigation-focused programs?

Tom Osborn: Our irrigation energy efficiency programs are not just for irrigation districts, but also for utility irrigation customers. In the Pacific Northwest, farms may have a pump station to pump water out of the ground, out of a creek, or out of the Columbia or Snake Rivers. We work with them on variable-frequency drives (VFDs) and moreefficient pumps. Some of their pumps have been in service for 50 years and are rebuilt, machined, or rewelded every 5 years. After a while, their efficiency begins to decline by 1 percent every 5 years. Recently, BPA created a simple incentive program to help irrigators invest in new, moreefficient pumps that can use the same motors and discharge heads. That’s been a popular measure.

There are also advanced irrigation strategies to help reduce the amount of water farmers need to apply. When I first started working in the irrigation sector, impact sprinklers were placed at the top of center pivots and sprayed water 10 feet above the crops. Sometimes that’s okay, as in the case of corn. But for some crops, such as alfalfa, beets, and onions, a lot of water evaporates before it hits the ground. A newer strategy is to place the sprinklers at eye level or, even better, directly on the ground. Then, you have no direct evaporation from the air and all the water is put on the ground. With that approach, the soil can absorb 97 percent of the water, compared to a figure of maybe 65 percent when the sprinklers are on top of the center pivot. This also requires less pressure from the pumping plant.

March 2022 | IRRIGATION LEADER

| 39

Farmers today are extremely efficient. The technology they use to control their pumps and pivots and optimize which pumps need to be on is unbelievable. VFDs speed up and slow down the pumps, raising and lowering the number of gallons per minute being pumped and saving a huge amount of energy. Moisture sensors in the ground guide farmers on how frequently to irrigate. Some farmers even use infrared drones and thermal imaging cameras on center pivots to detect which plants are more stressed than the others and require more water. That technology is expensive to implement and is still a couple years away for us, but the technology is there.

Irrigation Leader: You mentioned improvements such as lining canals and piping open ditches. Do those measures save electricity because they reduce the amount of water that needs to be pumped?

Tom Osborn: That is correct, especially in the large CBP irrigation districts. The Keys pumping plant lifts water from the river 280 feet to the storage canal, and its 12 huge pumps are 65,000 horsepower each. Six of the units are designed to be pump generator units.

Irrigation Leader: Do all these efficiency programs go through the local utilities?

Tom Osborn: The programs for the irrigators go through the local utilities. The projects for the power substations, the dams, and the large irrigation districts go directly through BPA. Irrigation districts can also get grant funding through Reclamation’s WaterSMART program. Some irrigation districts also apply to the state environmental protection agencies for funding.

Irrigation Leader: Does BPA identify the improvements that it wants irrigation customers to make, or do customers propose their own ideas?

40 | IRRIGATION LEADER | March 2022

Tom Osborn: BPA has been working in energy efficiency since 1980 and has saved over 2,000 average MW. That means is we have not had to procure resources to provide that additional 2,000 MW. Why didn’t we just build more nuclear plants or install combustion turbines? That is because Congress wanted us to look at efficiency first. Since 1980, BPA has thought of energy efficiency as a resource, and Congress has directed us to give energy efficiency a 10 percent credit.

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your vision for the future of BPA’s efficiency programs.

Tom Osborn: Our efficiency program should be tailored to support the Pacific Northwest’s clean energy goals, which include incorporating energy efficiency. I think it should also include demand response, which means turning loads on and off in response to power system needs. One of our customers, a small utility, keeps its power bill from BPA low by turning hot water heaters off for 15 minutes during peak usage in the morning. They offered homeowners a small credit on their power bill for participating. They’ve been successfully reducing their kilowatt demand using this strategy since 1986, and they are able to shift 10 percent of their load. How can we encourage other utilities to make these kinds of changes? The big question is how to document value in demand response and decide who gets the value or benefit. For instance, does the homeowner receive the value of turning off their hot water heater? In this case, the utility gives the homeowner a small credit on their power bill for participating. Does the electric utility get the benefit? In this case, it does, since it is shifting kilowatt demand. Does the wholesale power, BPA, receive value?

Maybe, maybe not. It depends on the day and when our peak is in the morning. What if BPA wanted to shift that load and asked the utilities to push the button at noon? That might not help the utility, and it might shift the demand for a commercial customer and affect its utility power bill. It’s difficult to work all those issues out.

Energy efficiency and its value proposition coupled with the demand component are the future of BPA’s energy efficiency efforts. We will see conversion from natural gas with the electrification of residential housing and commercial buildings, and electric vehicles will be adding to this new demand for clean hydropower energy. The Pacific Northwest will need all the hydropower it can get! H Tom Osborn is a mechanical engineer with Bonneville Power Administration’s energy efficiency group. For more on BPA, visit bpa.gov.

irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF BPA.

Tom Osborn: About half the irrigation projects are proposed by the irrigators. They might need a VFD, new LED lights, or new irrigation sprinkler equipment.

The other half are initiated by the utility, by BPA, or by one of the contractors that support the utility efficiency programs. We have a couple of people who work in the field with utility customers. They might educate people about rebate programs, perform a pump test, do a lighting audit, or provide a list of electricians or contractors that work in their area to do the installation. We also support custom projects, such as replacing an ice rink chiller or the cooling towers at a hospital. We might put a temporary energy datalogger on the facility and record its energy consumption before and after installation of the new equipment to verify the energy savings and calculate the rebate.

Irrigation Leader: How do these programs ultimately affect BPA?

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Dick Schober of Piper Sandler: A Primer on Bond Issuance for Irrigation Districts

Before pursuing a bond, irrigation districts should analyze their capital needs, sources of funding, and the affordability of the projected capital plan.

A

Dick Schober: Piper Sandler has been in the public finance business for more than 50 years. It is a Minneapolis-based company with divisions covering investment banking, equity research, equity sales and trading, public finance, and fixedincome sales and trading.

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your background.

Irrigation Leader: What are your portfolio responsibilities?

Dick Schober: I have worked in public finance for 35 years in the Seattle area. I started in commercial banking with First Interstate Bank before switching to public finance and working at a small firm in Seattle. I moved to Piper Jaffray, now Piper Sandler, in 1993 and worked there for a little more than 12 years. I then worked for a period of time as a senior investment banker in Goldman Sachs’ public sector and infrastructure banking group. Following my tenure at Goldman, I joined a smaller regional firm that was purchased by Piper Sandler in 2013, bringing me back to the company in a circuitous way.

Dick Schober: I’ve worked for municipal governments all over the West Coast, but for the last several years, I have primarily covered municipal entities in Washington State. Public finance is a unique business: While the types of bond issuers are similar, laws governing debt issuance differ from state to state. For this reason, Piper Sandler is structured with regional offices staffed by municipal professionals who are experts in debt issuance in the states that they cover. There are some exceptions to this, such as health care and housing, which are covered by bankers who are experts in those fields. The types of clients that we work with in our regional offices include cities; counties; school districts; and utility districts, such as water, sewer, and irrigation districts.

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about the history of Piper Sandler.

42 | IRRIGATION LEADER | March 2022

irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF PXHERE.COM, LICENSED UNDER CC0.

s a managing director of public finance investment banking at Piper Sandler, Dick Schober underwrites bond issuance for clients in many sectors, including water, irrigation, and sewer districts. In this interview, he lays out the basic principles of issuing bonds for Irrigation Leader readers.

When it comes to utility districts in particular, we can assist with capital planning and funding strategies to pay for new fixed assets. Funding sources may include operating income; cash reserves; state and federal grant and loan programs; and other types of debt, such as municipal bonds and bank loans, which if used for governmental purposes are exempt from federal income taxes and result in a lower rate of interest to the borrower. For municipal bonds and bank loans, we work with clients to structure the repayment of the debt; manage the debt origination process, including coordination with legal counsel on authorizing documents; secure credit ratings, if applicable; and establish or negotiate interest rates on the debt.

Irrigation Leader: For any readers who aren’t familiar with these instruments, would you quickly explain what a bond is?

Dick Schober: A bond is a contract between a borrower and a lender whereby the lender agrees to loan the borrower money for a stated period of time in return for a stated rate of interest. Interest is typically paid semiannually, and the loan balance or principal is typically paid annually, but annual principal payments can be tailored to meet the cash flow needs of the borrower. For example, if a utility issues a bond or loan to construct a water line to serve new customers, the annual payments of the bond or loan can be delayed until construction is complete and service revenue begins to be collected. Another example would be that if a borrower has an existing bond or loan that will be fully repaid within the next few years, principal repayment of a new bond can be delayed until the existing bond is fully paid.

Irrigation Leader: What is the difference between a bond and a regular loan?

Dick Schober: The primary difference between a bond and a loan is that a loan is typically obtained from a single financial institution, such as a bank. It is an agreement between the borrower and the financial institution rather than a public offering of securities. A bond, on the other hand, breaks up the total borrowed amount into smaller pieces, which are then sold through a public offering to multiple parties. A bond, as a public offering of securities to multiple parties, is subject to securities-offering rules, while a loan, as an agreement between the borrower and a single sophisticated financial institution, is generally not subject to securities-offering rules.

Irrigation Leader: You mentioned that you work with irrigation districts in the Pacific Northwest. What are some basic things that an irrigation district should consider before pursuing a bond?

Dick Schober: If a district is considering borrowing money, one piece of advice that I would offer is to engage your finance team early, including bond counsel, an underwriter, irrigationleadermagazine.com

and potentially a financial advisor. Typically, these professionals work on a fee that is based on dollars raised, so it will not cost more to have them on board early in the process.

Other big-picture considerations include the following: (1) What are the irrigation district’s capital needs? That is, what does the entity need to construct or improve to continue to provide reliable service to existing and new customers?

(2) What sources of funding does the district have to pay for those capital improvements? Sources may include operating revenue, cash reserves, grant proceeds, and external funding from bond or loan proceeds.

(3) How affordable is the capital plan given existing and new customer numbers, the current rate structure, and any planned or necessary rate increases?

Following up on the affordability concept, any lender, whether a bond investor or a financial institution, will require the borrower to have a rate structure that is sufficient both to fund ongoing operations and to cover all debt payment obligations on an annual basis. If the borrower is an irrigation district, investors will be focused on the district’s net operating income (NOI), that is, the operating revenue that remains after the district pays its operation and maintenance expenses, excluding noncash items, specifically depreciation. In particular, investors will want to know how NOI compares to the district’s required annual debt payment. The ratio of NOI to the district’s annual debt service payment is called coverage or debt service coverage. The lower the coverage factor, the less confident the investor will be in the district’s ability to pay or cover its debt obligations. For an investment-grade, essentialservice utility, NOI should be at least 1.5 times annual debt service. For a high-grade credit, NOI is often 3 or 4 times the entity’s annual debt service obligation. Coverage can be adjusted by reducing expenses, increasing rates and charges, or lowering debt service. Since the ability to cut operating expenses is limited, utilities generally try to manage coverage through rate increases and limits on borrowing, which sometimes requires reducing the scope of their capital programs or stretching the timing of capital expenses out to match customer growth and reasonable rate increases. There are other credit factors to consider, but the link between the timing and scope of the capital program and the ability to pay for that program is critical.

Irrigation Leader: If an irrigation district wanted to pursue a bond with your firm, what steps would it take?

Dick Schober: First, the district would want to assess whether a bond or a bank loan is a better funding solution. The finance team can assist with that assessment. A district will usually pay a higher rate of interest for a bank loan, but securing a bank loan is a simpler process. For a small or short-term funding need, a bank loan might be the better option. Because a bank loan is not a public offering of securities, it March 2022 | IRRIGATION LEADER

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Bonds and loans are two important ways in which irrigation districts can raise capital.

44 | IRRIGATION LEADER | March 2022

district receives the proceeds from the bond sale. The entire process takes approximately 12–14 weeks. A bank loan can be executed in a slightly shorter time frame.

Irrigation Leader: At what point does an irrigation district have to lay out money in order to obtain a bond? Are there any transactional fees up front?

Dick Schober: Generally, no. We work on the contingency that the bond sale will occur at some point. We are paid when the bonds close and the district receives the proceeds from the sale, as are most attorneys who work on these transactions. Some fees will be incurred regardless of whether the bonds close, the most significant being the rating agency fee, but the timing of the incurrence of those fees can be managed such that there is a high degree of certainty that the bond sale will happen.

Irrigation Leader: Does your firm currently provide any kind of Bond 101 training?

Dick Schober: Yes, we do that quite often for professional associations, such as city and county associations and associations that serve utility districts. We want to be a resource to our clients and the professional associations that support them, and we appreciate any opportunity to explain the process of accessing capital funding. IL Dick Schober is the managing director of public finance investment banking at Piper Sandler.

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isn’t governed by federal securities law and therefore does not require the district to prepare a securities offering document called an official statement. Assembling this document is complex and time consuming and will necessitate staff input.

Further, a bank loan does not require the district to get a public rating, which is a service you have to pay for. Why, in that case, would an irrigation district ever choose to issue a bond? Well, if the borrowing need is several million dollars or more, the cost savings of a bond issue will likely outweigh the ease of execution of a bank loan.

Whether it is issuing a bond or negotiating a bank loan, the district will want to work with its financing team, specifically bond counsel and the underwriter or placement agent, to create a schedule that lays out the process. Bond counsel will assemble the required legal documentation and ultimately provide a legal opinion that states that the bond or loan is a legal and valid obligation under the laws of the state of issuance and, if applicable, that interest on the obligation is exempt from federal income tax. Piper Sandler can serve in the function of underwriter in the case of bonds or of placement agent in the case of a bank loan.

In either role, Piper Sandler will coordinate the process and ultimately serve as an intermediary between the district and the bond investor or bank. If the better funding solution is bonds, the financing team will assist the district in preparing the official statement and obtaining credit ratings.

Specifically for bonds, once the documentation is complete and credit ratings are secured, the official statement is distributed to potential investors and the sale or bond offering occurs. Interest rates are established at this point of the bond sale process, and the underwriter will commit to purchase all the bonds from the district at those established rates, regardless of whether or not it has been able to sell all the bonds to investors at those rates. The bond closing occurs approximately 2 weeks following the sale, at which point the

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JOB LISTINGS

Does your organization have a job listing you would like to advertise in our pages? Irrigation Leader provides this service to irrigation districts, water agencies, and hydropower facilities free of charge. For more information, please email Kris Polly at kris.polly@waterstrategies.com.

CIVIL STRUCTURAL ENGINEER Salary: TBD based on qualifications Location: Long Beach, Irvine, or San Francisco, CA Deadline: Open until filled Summary: A staff engineer with 3 to 7 years of experience with emphasis on supporting the design of civil infrastructure along the waterfront and in the marine environment.

Apply: https://www.anchorqea.com/ careers/careers-open-positions/

PROJECT DESIGNER Salary: TBD based on qualifications Location: Tracy, CA Deadline: Open until filled Summary: Support the Project Manager’s efforts from inception through production through leading new product design and in existing product redesign and review initiatives.

Apply: https://www.nwpipe.com/careers/

TECHNICAL SALES AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Salary: TBD, based on qualifications Location: Remote/Hybrid Deadline: Open until filled Summary: Presenting our product and our values accurately and enthusiastically while maintaining existing lines of business and effectively building new relationships.

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TECHNICAL MARKETING MANAGER Salary: TBD based on qualifications Location: Orem, UT or Salt Lake City, UT Deadline: Open until filled Summary: Develop, maintain, and improve relationships with the engineering and specification community in all viable markets.

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SOUTH FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT Title: Senior Scientist Salary: $59,966–$71,281 annually, based on qualifications Location: West Palm Beach, FL Deadline: Open until filled Summary: The Senior Hydrogeologist is a highly experienced senior scientist position responsible for the review of consumptive water use permit applications and other strategic initiatives of the Water Use Bureau.

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WATER RESOURCES POLICY ANALYST Salary: $61,810–$91,323 annually Location: Peoria, Arizona Application Deadline: Until filled Summary: The Water Resources Policy Analyst works closely with the Water Resources Advisor to ensure Peoria maintains a resilient and sustainable water supply as it grows. The two primary functions of the policy analyst are to maintain compliance with all water resources-related contracts and regulations and to help the Water Services department maximize the long-term benefit of its water resources.

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For more job listings, please visit: irrigationleadermagazine.com/job-board/. irrigationleadermagazine.com

March 2022 | IRRIGATION LEADER

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Upcoming Events March 9 Nebraska Water Resources Association, Water Roundtable, Lincoln, NE March 9–11 Texas Water Conservation Association, Annual Convention, Fort Worth, TX March 10 Oregon Water Resources Congress, District Managers Workshop, Newport, OR March 15–17 European Irrigation Association, SIVAL Agricultural Equipment and Services Trade Show, Angers, France March 21–23 Utah Water Users Association, Utah Water Users Workshop, St. George, UT April 7–8 The P3 Water Summit, San Diego, CA April 13 Nebraska Water Resources Association, Water Roundtable, Lincoln, NE April 24–26 American Society of Irrigation Consultants, National Conference, New Orleans, LA April 26–30 European Irrigation Association, International Fair for Agricultural Machinery, Zaragoza, Spain May 3–6 Association of California Water Agencies, Spring Conference and Exhibition, Sacramento, CA May 10–12 National Water Resources Association, Federal Water Issues Conference, Washington, DC

Past issues of Irrigation Leader are archived at IRRIGATIONLEADERMAGAZINE.COM /IrrigationLeader

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